DOCSLIB.ORG

The Broken Image of New Netherland

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Broken Image of New Netherland The Broken Image of New Netherland A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL STORY OF A DUTCH COLONY Max Boersma s1016415 Nonnensteeg 1-3 2311VJ Leiden [email protected] Master Thesis Professor: Dr. E.F. van der Bilt 11-8-2015 Content Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 1: the 17th and 19th centuries ................................................................................................ 4 Chapter 2: end 19th century/beginning 20th century ......................................................................... 21 Chapter 3: 21st century ...................................................................................................................... 35 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 74 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................... 76 1 Introduction Nowadays, the settlement of New Amsterdam, though hardly the most successful seventeenth-century colony of the Dutch republic, is one of the most important cities in the world. New Amsterdam was the capital of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. Today, it is not known by the name the Dutch gave it, but by the name the English gave it: New York. But even though more has changed than just the name, some things remain the same. As Washington Irving wrote in his apology of his book A History of New York: “It [the Dutch rule over New Netherland] was . almost a terra incognita in history. In fact, I was surprised to find how few of my fellow-citizens were aware that New York had ever been called New Amsterdam, or had heard of the names of its early Dutch governors, or cared a straw about their ancient Dutch progenitors.”1 He wrote these words in the beginning of the 19th century. In the 21st century nothing seems to have changed, since Charles Gehring said the following in an interview in the New York Times about his work at the New Netherland Institute to translate old Dutch documents of New Netherland into English: “Most historians don’t think much of the Dutch; they minimalize the Dutch influence and try to get out of that period as quickly as possible to get into English stuff.”2 Throughout the years, New Netherland and New Amsterdam have nevertheless been described many times, in many ages and by many writers. From A Description of the New Netherlands by Adriaen van der Donck, A History of New York by Washington Irving (by the pseudonym of Diedrich Knickerbocker) to the book The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto, many writers had their own image of the Dutch colony. The descriptions vary, but how do they do so? What are the elements that had an impact on these descriptions? And are there no common denominators that bring these descriptions together? What was the influence of the time at the writers? Who are the heroes of New Netherland? How do they portray the political leaders? The questions underlying this 1 Michael L. Black and Nancy B. Black ed., Washington Irving, A History of New York (Boston 1984) 3 2 Danny Hakim, ‘His Specialty? Making Old New York Talk in Dutch’ in: New York Times New York Region (December 27th 2009) A18 2 thesis are how various authors depicted New Netherland over the years and what helps explain some of the changes that occurred in their writings. By examining multiple works (the books by Washington Irving and Adriaen van der Donck, although respectively a satire story and a “public relations” description, cannot be ignored given the huge impact of the books) from different time periods, one can grasp how New Netherland and New Amsterdam were seen through history and how the descriptions of the settlement and colony changed. Because it is impossible to discuss every book and every article that discusses New Netherland and New Amsterdam, the books and articles that are analyzed here are only a small portion of the available sources. However, the sources that are discussed here are the most important ones that show the development of the literature on New Amsterdam and New Netherland from the founding of the colony until today. A discussion of the authors and the content of these works will indicate the changes that occur in the writings on the seventeenth-century Dutch colony and explain what underlies these changes. As will become clear in this historiographical study, although academic developments will figure prominently in these changes, political considerations play an important role as well. 3 Chapter 1: the 17th and 19th centuries Before 1850, two important books about New Netherland were written: Beschryvinge van Nieuw-Nederlant by Adriaen van der Donck and A History of New York by Washington Irving (written under the pseudonym of Diedrich Knickerbocker). One being a description of a contemporary settler, the other a satire story by an American writer, the books were completely different. The influence of both was different as well. Irving’s book immediately had a huge influence on the image of New Netherland, while the book of Van der Donck did not have much influence until much later. The books were not written by professional (or even gentlemen amateur) historians. Van der Donck’s account was more an advertisement trying to draw settlers to the Dutch colony in North America while Irving’s work was more entertainment than “real” history. Adriaen van der Donck was, according to the New Netherland Institute, a very important figure in the history of New Netherland. As the institute’s website says: “Adriaen van der Donck, born during the 1618-1620 period, is one of several interesting and important figures in the development of New Netherland. He put his stamp first in the Rensselaersyck colony, but later also on New Amsterdam during the periods of the governor generals Kieft and Stuyvesant.”3 In 1655, Van der Donck published his work Beschryvinge van Nieuw-Nederlant. It was not very popular in its time, although (as scholars indicate) highly appreciated by Washington Irving (even though he did not mention Van der Donck in his book). The main reason for the lack of interest was that it took almost 200 years before the first translation in English was published: in 1841 the English version was published by Jeremiah Johnson as A Description of the New Netherlands. It took until 1968 before the second translation by Thomas F. O’Donnell came out. Before the English translation was published, scholars used and praised the book by Van der Donck, but the general public hardly knew of its existence.4 As O’Donnell writes in his introduction for his translation from 1968: ”Van der Donck and his language were losers. Had he 3 New Netherland Institute, Adriaen van der Donck (1620-1655) on: http://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/adriaen-van-der-donck/ (seen 16-4-2015) 4 Adriaen van der Donck, A Description of the New Netherlands, translated by Thomas O’Donnell (Syracuse 1968) ix-x 4 written in English rather than Dutch, his Description would certainly have won from posterity the same kind, if not the same amount, of veneration that has been bestowed on Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation.”5 Russell Shorto says something similar in his book, The Island at the Center of the World, The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America. “Why American history has overlooked their [the Dutch] accomplishment has to do in part with Anglo centrism and also probably with something as mundane as the way colonial studies have traditionally been divided in America universities: English departments focusing on the English colonies, the Spanish colonies covered in the Spanish department, and so on. This meant both that the Dutch colony was relegated to the margins (few American universities have Dutch departments) and that colonial studies as a whole were approached narrowly.”6 Van der Donck’s book is used my many New Netherland historians as a source. For instance, in his book The Colony of New Netherland, A Dutch Settlement in Seventeenth-Century America Jaap Jacobs relies on it for information, as does Russell Shorto in his book.7 Mariana Schuyler van Rensselaer wrote in 1909 about Van der Donck’s book: “This, indeed, is an exceptionally intelligent book of its kind.”8 O’Donnell describes Van der Donck’s book in these words: “Whatever else it is, A Description of the New Netherlands is the first book written by an established resident of what is now New York state, and it is the first book about the state itself – the first careful and detailed study of the land that stretches north and northwest form Staten Island to Canada, the St. Lawrence River, and Lake Ontario.”9 Seeing Van der Donck as an American, since he was planning to stay permanently in the New World, O’Donnell considers the book of Van der Donck as an early Dutch version of the American 5 Van der Donck, A Description x 6 Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America (New York 2004) 220-221 7 Jaap Jacobs, The Colony of New Netherland A Dutch Settlement in Seventeenth-Century America (Ithaca 2009) and Shorto, The Island 8 Mariana Schuyler van Rensselaer, History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century Vol 1. New Amsterdam (New York 1909) 481 5 9 Van der Donck, A Description xi Dream. It is in this sense that it is not only important and interesting to New Yorkers, but also for all Americans.10 Van der Donck’s career started in his early twenties as a schout (as Russell Shorto describes it: “a Dutch title that combined the duties of sheriff and public prosecutor”11) of the local patroonship, a kind of plantation, called Rensselaerswyck. This was owned by a tradesman from Amsterdam whose name was Kiliaen van Rensselaer (there is still a village called Rensselaer at the same place, next to Albany, New York).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Adriaen Van Der Donck, a Description of New Netherland, 1655- 1656
    Adriaen van der Donck, A Description of New Netherland, 1655- 1656. All American Indian treaties, accords, peace negotiations, agreements, atonements, proposals, requests, contracts, and pledges are sealed with gifts. Without these, their promises are not worth much, but with presents, agreements are binding. That is why an offering is commonly made with each point requested or agreed. The points are represented and remembered by means of wooden tallies. The person making the request has the offering nearby. When he finishes each point, he places an offering before the one for whom it is intended. Matters thus concluded with among them, they will exactly remember and perform to the utmost by all possible means. The offerings usually consist of wampum, pelts, duffel cloth, and weapons. American Indians are ever ready to exchange gifts among themselves and with the Dutch, who are not keen on it. The Indians tend to demand too much and to take what the Dutch do not willingly give. When making a request to the Indians, one sends an offering to them. The offering is hung up, and the request is stated, and those to whom it is addressed examine and deliberate the proposition seriously. If they take the offerings, the request is accepted and consented to. If the offering remains where it hangs for over three days, the petitioner must alter the request or increase the offering or both. Adapted from Charles T. Gehring and William A. Starna, eds. A Description of New Netherland, trans. Diederik Willem Goedhuys (2008). Biography: Adriaen van der Donck was a Dutch lawyer.
    [Show full text]
  • Algonquians in Context: the End of the Spirituality of the Natural World Vernon Benjamin
    Algonquians in Context: The End of the Spirituality of the Natural World Vernon Benjamin “When we have a sermon, sometimes ten or twelve of them, more or less, will attend, each having a long tobacco pipe, made by himself, in his mouth, and will stand awhile and look, and afterwards ask me what I was doing. I tell them that I admonish the Christians, that they must not steal, nor commit lewdness, nor get drunk, nor commit murder, and that they too ought not to do these things . They say I do well to teach the Christians; but immediately add, Diatennon jawij Assyreoni, hagiowisk, that is, ‘Why do so many Christians do these things?’” — Dominie Johannes Megapölensis Rensselaerswyck, 1644 “. .the chronic practice of describing man as a tool-using animal conceals some of the very facts that must be exposed and revaluated. Why, for example, if tools were so important to human development, did it take man at least half a million years . to shape anything but the crudest stone tools? Why is it that the lowest existing peoples . have elaborate ceremonials, a complicated kinship organization, and a finely differenti- ated language, capable of expressing every aspect of their experience?” — Lewis Mumford, 1966 “An ecosystem is a discrete community of plants and animals, together with the nonliving environment, occupying a certain space and time, having a flow-through of energy and raw materials in its operation, and composed of subsystems. For convenience of analysis, an ecosystem can be separated into its physical and biological components, although one should bear in mind that in nature the two are completely intermeshed in complex interactions.
    [Show full text]
  • Council Minutes 1655-1656
    Council Minutes 1655-1656 New Netherland Documents Series Volume VI ^:OVA.BUfi I C ^ u e W « ^ [ Adriaen van der Donck’s Map of New Netherland, 1656 Courtesy of the New York State Library; photo by Dietrich C. Gehring Council Minutes 1655-1656 ❖ Translated and Edited by CHARLES T. GEHRING SJQJ SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PRESS Copyright © 1995 by The Holland Society of New York ALL RIGHTS RESERVED First Edition, 1995 95 96 97 98 99 6 5 4 3 21 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements o f American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z 39.48-1984.@™ Produced with the support of The Holland Society o f New York and the New Netherland Project of the New York State Library The preparation of this volume was made possibl&in part by a grant from the Division of Research Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency. This book is published with the assistance o f a grant from the John Ben Snow Foundation. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data New Netherland. Council. Council minutes, 1655-1656 / translated and edited by Charles T. Gehring. — lsted. p. cm. — (New Netherland documents series ; vol. 6) Includes index. ISBN 0-8156-2646-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. New York (State)— Politics and government—To 1775— Sources. 2. New York (State)— History—Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775— Sources. 3. New York (State)— Genealogy. 4. Dutch—New York (State)— History— 17th century—Sources. 5. Dutch Americans—New York (State)— Genealogy.
    [Show full text]
  • Adriaen Van Der Donck: a Dutch Rebel in Seventeenth-Century America'
    H-Low-Countries Kooi on Hout, 'Adriaen van der Donck: A Dutch Rebel in Seventeenth-Century America' Review published on Friday, December 21, 2018 J. van den Hout. Adriaen van der Donck: A Dutch Rebel in Seventeenth-Century America. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2018. xvi + 203 pp. $27.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-4384-6922-5. Reviewed by Christine Kooi (LSU)Published on H-Low-Countries (December, 2018) Commissioned by Hubert P. Van Tuyll (Georgia Regents University) Printable Version: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=53246 Adriaen van der Donck (1618-55) is most famous among scholars of New Netherland for his influential treatise Description of New Netherland (1655), a survey of the geography, native peoples, flora, and fauna (especially beavers) of the Dutch colony intended to encourage the further settlement of the West India Company’s (WIC) Hudson Valley possessions. For the WIC, though, Van der Donck was an irritating troublemaker and critic, who, as spokesman for the colonists, tried unsuccessfully to persuade the States-General to force reforms of governance on the WIC. The independent scholar J. van den Hout has now provided us with the first comprehensive biography of this colonist, lawyer, lobbyist, publicist, and gadfly. Mining archives on both sides of the Atlantic, the author offers a straightforward chronological account of Van der Donck’s short but eventful life. It was a life of replete with adventure, scholarship, and politics. The scion of an elite Breda family scarred by the Netherlandish wars, Van der Donck studied law at Leiden University and then secured the patronage of none other than Kiliaen van Rensselaer, patroon of Rensselaerswyck in in the recently established colony of New Netherland.
    [Show full text]
  • Correspondence, 1647–1653
    Correspondence, 1647–1653 Translated and edited by CHARLES T. GEHRING New Netherland Documents Series Volume XI About the New Netherland Research Center and the New Netherland Institute The New Netherland Research Center is a partnership between the New York State Office of Cultural Education and the New Netherland Institute. Housed in the New York State Library, the Center supports research on the seventeenth-century Dutch province of New Netherland, which was centered on New York’s Hudson Valley and extended from Connecticut to Delaware. Under Director Dr. Charles Gehring and Associate Director Dr. Janny Venema, it continues the work of the New Netherland Project, which since 1974 has translated Dutch era documents held by the New York State Library and the New York State Archives. Visit the New Nether- land Research Center online at www.nysl.nysed.gov/newnetherland. The New Netherland Institute is an independent nonprofit organization supporting research and education in Dutch-American history. For over three decades, the Institute and its predecessor organization the Friends of New Netherland have supported the translation of New York’s Dutch era documents by the New Netherland Project. Through a three-year match- ing grant from the State of the Netherlands, the Institute now undertakes financial and programmatic support of the New Netherland Research Center. The Institute relies heavily on its members to fulfill this mission. Interested parties can learn more about the Institute’s programs and how to join at www.newnetherlandinstitute.org. About the Translator and Editor Charles T. Gehring was born in Fort Plain, an old Erie Canal town in New York State’s Mohawk Valley.
    [Show full text]
  • Peter Stuyvesant's Culture Wars
    Peter Stuyvesant’s Culture Wars Tolera'ng the Sin of Satan in Dutch New York (1647-1644) What is “Dutch” New York? New Netherland: Circa 1650 Area Occupied by Present Day NY Director-General Peter Stuyvesant Governed New Netherland & Curacao 1647-1664 •A Conservave (Calvinist) religious Protestant •A Military “Commander in Chief” in a sensi@ve region •A Poli@cian balancing “Big Business” interests oF the West India Company, with his own principles •Known For policies oF poli@cal and religious intolerance Poli'cal and Religious Tension in the Colony Dutch ReFormed Church vs. a heterogeneous populaon Natural Rights (Burghers) vs. Divine Right (Administraon) Merchant Class (Taxaon & trade duty) vs. Dutch West India Company Emp. Case Study ExaMples for Stuyvesant’s Anger & Intolerance • The War Crime Charges oF Melyn and Kuyter, against Former Director KieT, 1647 • The Pe@@on oF the Nine Men, 1649 • Flushing Remonstrance oF 1653 • Flushing Remonstrance oF 1657 • “Private” Conven@cles: A^empts at Religious Autonomy Stuyvesant’s Furious Opposi@on to Liberty “People may think of appealing during my Cme – should any one do so, I would have him made a foot shorter, pack the pieces off to Holland and let him appeal in that way”. - Peter Stuyvesant, when Melyn and Kuyter, “Cunning” and “Malignant Subjects”, appealed his sentence oF banishment “Anyone offer objecon…He bursts inconCnentally into a rage and makes such a to-do that it is dreadful” - Adriaen Van Der Donck, on Peter Stuyvesant’s conduct in Council He’d rather “Quit his posiCon than to allow
    [Show full text]
  • The Gazette Series
    28 o b lige d to satisfy the Indians for the land they u o n shall settle p , and they may extend or enlarge the limits of their C olonies if they settle a pro p o rtio nate number of C olonists thereon . XXVII . The Patroons and Colonists shall in r particula , and in the speediest manner , endea vor to find out ways and means whereby they M may support a inister and Schoolmaster , that thus the service of God and zeal for religion may not grow cool , and b e neglected among them and that they shall , for the first, procure th e . a Comforter of sick , there XXVIII . The C olonies that shall happen to lie on the respective rivers or islands ( that is to say, each river or island for itself ) shall be at i n liberty to appoint a Deputy , who shall give formation to the Commander and C ouncil of that W estern quarter , of all things relating to u his Colonie , and f rther matters relating thereto , of which Deputies there shall be one altered , or changed , in every two years and all l Colonies shal be obliged , at least once in every twelve months , to make exact report of their con dition and of the lands thereabout , to the Com n mander and Council there , in order to be tra s mitte d hither . XXIX . The Colonists shall not be permitted c to make any woolen , linen , or cotton loth , nor ff weave any other stu s there , on pain of being banished , and as perjurers , to be arbitrarily punished .
    [Show full text]
  • Sullivan - History of New York State 1523-1927
    Sullivan - History of New York State 1523-1927 "Hisotry of New York State 1523-1927" HISTORY OF NEW YORK STATE 1523-1927 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DR. JAMES SULLIVAN Former State Historian; Present Assistant Commissioner for Higher and Professional Education of the New York State Department of Education; Author of "An Elementary History of England, 1904," "The Government of New York State, 1906"; Editor of "Washington's and Webster's Addresses, 1908," "American Democracy- Washington to Wilson, 1919," "Sir William Johnson Papers"; Editor of the Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association. ASSOCIATE EDITORS E. MELVIN WILLIAM EDWIN P. CONKLIN BENEDICT FITZPATRICK VOLUME V LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK CHICAGO Sullivan - History of New York State 1523-1927 "History of New York State 1523-1927" CHAPTER XII. THE BENCH AND BAR. Dutch Period, 1609-1664. Hudson discovered the river known by his name in 1609. During the next ten years many Dutch ships were in New York waters, and Manhattan Island had a small settlement of traders. Magisterial authority, if there was any in this little trading community, probably followed the rules of the sea, with sea captains as arbiters, and with the certainty that capital offenses would be referred to the home government. In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was chartered, with wide powers and charged with the keeping of "good order, police, and justice." The charter contained many guarantees of freedom in social, political and religious life, but reserved final judicial authority for the States General. Next in magisterial authority were the directors of the company, who exercised supervision of, and accepted responsibility for, the judicial acts of their provincial officials, the superintendents of the trading posts and the ship captains.
    [Show full text]
  • Formerly an Indian: Social Distance in Dutch New York
    FORMERLY AN INDIAN: SOCIAL DISTANCE IN DUTCH NEW YORK By Rachel Cholst Submitted to Professors Bethel Saler and Farid Azfar In partial fulfillment of the requirements of History 400: Senior Thesis Seminar 22 April 2011 ABSTRACT When the Dutch first settled New York in 1621, they maintained a notable social distance from their Native neighbors. I believe this distance was at least in part caused by events in the Netherlands. The colonists arrived in the New World in the midst of the Dutch Revolt (1568-1648.) The War resulted in both establishing the United Provinces' independence from the Hapsburg Empire and a newly defined Dutch identity. In an attempt to unify the disparate, autonomous provinces, revolutionary propagandists dug deep into the Netherlands' history to create an imagined, immemorial cultural bond between the Provinces. One of the strategies the propagandists relied on was to cast themselves, subjects of the tyrannical Hapsburg Empire, as another marginalized group under the thumbs of the Spanish: Amerindians. So when the first New Netherlanders arrived in the New World, they brought their recently created, amorphous identity with them. Colonial figures defined Dutch identity in relation to the Indians of New York, but also expressed concern that, when the colonists did not live up to these standards, they could not be considered Dutchman. The social distance between the Dutch and the Indians worked as a means of reifying Dutch identity, but its inevitable failure in the face of constant daily interaction meant that the Dutch ran the risk of becoming like the Indians they held at arm's length.
    [Show full text]
  • The Omnipotent Beaver in Van Der Donck's a Description
    THE OMNIPOTENT BEAVER IN VAN DER DONCK’S A DESCRIPTION OF NEW NETHERLAND A Natural Symbol of Promise in the New WorlD Julie van den Hout Dutch H196: Honors Studies in Dutch Faculty Adviser: Jeroen Dewulf University of California, Berkeley Spring, 2015 1 INTRODUCTION In May of 1653, Adriaen van Der Donck submitteD his book, A Description of New Netherland, to the Directors of the West InDia Company (WIC) at the Chamber in AmsterDam for approval, in advance of requesting a copyright from the States General of the Dutch Republic.1 This seemeD like gooD Politics considering Van der Donck had reapeD the wrath of the West InDia Company Directors a few years earlier when he, as a colonial delegate, formally complaineD in his Remonstrance of New Netherland to the States General about the West InDia Company’s management of the colony. Both the West InDia Company and the States General approveD of Van der Donck’s proposed book; he was granteD a fifteen-year copyright.2 A Description of New Netherland, originally published in 1655, is DiviDeD into four main chaPters. The first chapter, “The Country,” discusses Dutch rights to the territory and the physical aspects of the country, detailing land anD waterways as well as local flora and fauna. The second chapter, “Of the Manners and Extraordinary Qualities of the Original Natives of New Netherland,” provides physical descriptions and details cultural traditions of the native, indigenous population. The third chapter, “Of the Nature, Amazing Ways, anD ProPerties of the Beavers,” describes the physical and social habits of beavers.
    [Show full text]
  • New-Netherland a Trading Colony in the New World
    New-Netherland A trading colony in the New World Lesson book – For the Hudson Year HAVO/VWO 3 and 4 ~ 1 ~ Netherlands Atlantic Association Bezuidenhoutseweg 237-239 2594 AM The Hague [email protected] www.atlantischecommissie.nl ISBN 978-90-73329-19-5 First edition 2009 Editors The text was written under the auspices of the Education Committee of the Netherlands Atlantic Association by Jan-Jouke Mulder and Wietske Stans (interns at the Netherlands Atlantic Association, September – December 2008) with revisions by Berdien Wiegant and Matthijs van Duijn (interns at the Netherlands Atlantic Association, January – April 2009). Hans Krabbendam provided guidance in terms of content. Maaike Dingemans-Derix was responsible for the fi nal editing. Translation: Nora Delaney and Kate Delaney. Cover: New Netherland: Peter Stuyvesant and a Native American (photo: Panoramio). Design and printing: Thieme MediaCenter Nijmegen. The publication of this lesson booklet has been made possible by a generous grant from the US Embassy in The Hague. © 2009 Netherlands Atlantic Association. All rights reserved. No material from this publication may be copied, saved in a computerized database, or made public in any form or manner, whether electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any other manner, without prior written permis- sion from the Netherlands Atlantic Association. Publisher’s note: we have made all possible efforts to determine copyright owners. If persons or bodies intend to make claim to specifi c rights, please contact the publisher. ~ 2 ~ Preface Back in the days when everyone still smoked, I used to fetch packs of Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes for my mother; the pack is still an icon from the image archive of my youth.
    [Show full text]
  • Picturing New Netherland and New York. Dutch-Anglo Transfer of New World Information
    PICTURING NEW NETHERLAND AND NEW YORK. DUTCH-ANGLO TRANSFER OF NEW WORLD INFORMATION Frans R.E. Blom New Netherland in the Eyes of the Beholder The WIC settlements in America, and New Netherland in particular, remained basically terra incognita in its early years for most people in the home country. Over the first four decades after Hudson ’s discov- ery in 1609, only a few books would provide public information on this overseas area.1 These limited descriptions, including the ones by Johannes de Laet in 1625 and 1630, mapped the coastlines and rivers on the basis of travelogues and journals, in order to indicate places for shipping, anchoring and trading. Obviously, they did not reach a wide circle of readers, since they addressed merchants interested in the West India Company’s opportunities. Moreover, these observa- tions on New Netherland were relatively small elements in the overall descriptions of the West which were published in large and expensive volumes and were affordable exclusively to high class readers. This all changed with the publication of Adriaen van der Donck ’s Description of New Netherland in 1655, a new type of representation in terms of its contents, readers and purpose. The book had a great impact on the information, distribution and visibility of New Netherland, in Amster- dam as well as in London after the English had taken over the colony in 1664. It is the aim of this contribution to trace and interpret the altering textual and visual information during that process in a func- tionalistic approach, following the text from its first edition in Amster- dam through its many-sided afterlife, both in the Dutch Republic and in England.
    [Show full text]